Another Executive Order

Updated on June 11, 2014

Cicada Chiquita

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Please, Not Again!

Good Morning, Breakfastpoppers. Today is Wednesday, June 11, 2014. Our noisy, but delightful friend, Chiquita, is here with me at the breakfast table. She is kicking up her heels in utter frustration this morning. President Obama issued yet another executive order on Monday and it is ultimately going to cost taxpayers money. Please join Chiquita and me this morning at the table. She prepared a batch of apple muffins this morning. I'm serving them with Irish coffees, so come on over to my place.

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Da Pen! Da Pen!

Thank you all for coming here this morning. President Obama told us that all he needs to govern is a pen and a phone. He hasn't picked up the phone recently, but his pen is busier than ever. On Monday, President Obama issued an executive order which will ensure that students with federal loans will be able to cap payments at 10 percent of their monthly income. Students have been defaulting on their loans at an alarming rate.

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Relax..Don't Worry!

Many financial analysts are more than a little disturbed by the devil in the details. In 20 years, the student's debt vanishes even if the loan hasn't been fully repaid. The debt goes away as far as the students are concerned, but it pops right up again for the taxpayers to take care of. I guess this is the administration's way of making earning less money seem appealing. After all, both President Obama and other Democrats in Congress think it's better for you to stay at home on the couch with your kids. Work has been largely overrated. This new student loan tweak fits right in there with the now preferred way of life.

If you earn less money after graduating than you had expected, take heart. Your loan payments will be smaller and after 20 years, you won't owe a dime. This could be the deal of the century, except if you are among those American citizens who actually pay taxes.Your burden will go on forever.

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A Novel Idea

Student debt is the largest area of consumer debt in the nation. Fifteen percent of student's default on their loans within the first three years of re-payment. Instead of handing over the burden of re-payment to the taxpayers after 20 years, how about job creation that actually gives these students hope for a brighter future? An overwhelming number of newly created jobs are part- time, low- paying or part-time and low-paying. It's not a pretty picture, This administration has done its level best to place a stranglehold on the creation of new business. It has given government agencies such as the EPA enormous powers to disrupt the lives of American citizens who are trying to make an honest living. Companies are scaling back the number of those they employ because of the economic burdens imposed on them by Obamacare.

We need a government that wants to foster competiton. We need a government that believes in capitalism and the free market. We haven't had either for the last six years.

This administration has enjoyed pitting the so called "rich" against the so-called "poor". There has been a lot of talk about people paying their fair share of taxes. When students leave a good deal of unpaid student loan debt on the table, the American taxpayer will now be asked to pick up the tab. The "rich" once again will be asked to pay more. Perhaps it's time for the poor to pay their fair share, as well. That isn't happening now because of personal exemptions and itemized deduction reductions. We need to change the playing field.

While we are at it, we need to find a way for students to manage their debt without washing their hands of their problems and foisting them on already beleaguered taxpayers. There are solutions out there, but we need an administration willing to make the kind of changes that are good for America. They aren't doing that now and they haven't done it for the last six years.

Comments 45 comments

POP: Anything for a vote!!!!! November is approaching. What a nice way to try to get the youth of America to vote Democratic. Now, to the bar...... I really need a tall cold..... Pino Grigio, of course....

Pino Krisio 2 years ago

POP: Anything for a vote!!!!! November is approaching. What a nice way to try to get the youth of America to vote Democratic. Now, to the bar...... I really need a tall cold..... Pino Grigio, of course....

Pino Krisio 2 years ago

POP: Anything for a vote! November is fast approaching. What a nice way to get the youth of America to vote Democratic; if they pay attention and vote at all. Anyway, I am off to the bar to drink away the bad ink in Obama's pen....

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning Pino, Good Morning Pino, Good Morning Pino!

I love it. Not one comment, but three. It's sort of like voting as many times as possible! See you at the Inn, the Inn, the Inn!

taxlarry 2 years ago

This bum is not only taking away incentive to work but incentive to pays one's debt that they agreed to pay back. This bum is creating a nation of slackers and deadbeats. I wonder how the people who have paid off their student loans feel?

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

This whole plan is nothing but yet another way to buy votes for the liberals. Many students were naive enough to believe all the promises made by our glorious leader and became loyal worshipers.

Later, they were smart enough to see that much of what they were promised would not come true. Our youth are a little smarter than the politicians thought they were, and the polls indicated they were drifting away in large numbers. Many college graduates found that few of the high paying jobs they dreamed of existed. Their liberal professors had filled their heads with hatred for capitalism, and they found themselves living in their parents basement owing huge sums for student loans while flipping burgers for spending money.

What better way to bring them back into the liberal fold than solving their student loan problems? It will of course be mentioned many times that "those darn conservatives didn't want to do this," but we liberals and progressives will make the taxpayers pay those loans for you.

Brilliant plan when you think about it, and this is an election year.

Tom Whitworth 2 years ago from Moundsville, WV

Pop and Chiquita,

I have a dream. I dream of the day when Obama's pen is his place of residence, not his writing implement. He belongs in the pen.

billybuc 2 years ago from Olympia, WA

Wow! We found a topic that you and I agree on. LOL It didn't take that long, did it? :) I'm tired of the notion that every kid should go to college. Some kids need to be bakers, and some car mechanics. I wish parents would stop telling their kids that a higher education is the only way to make it in this world. Now if that happened, we would have fewer in college who don't belong there.....that means lower debt and that means I can agree completely with you....if you go to college you pay for the whole ball of wax, even if it takes your damn lifetime. :)

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning, Mike,

Obama is filling the country with illegals, the thinking being they will keep Dems in office forever. The colleges are filling the country with liberal, anti-capitalist citizens who really don't have good prospects, thus more grateful voters will be born. Pretty soon we will be a nation composed entirely of burger flipping crop picking people needing big government to bail them out. What a sorry scenario that is. See you at the Inn.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning Tom,

You are both brilliant and funny!! I vote you up. See you at the Inn.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning billy,

I agree, college is not for everyone. Far too many students graduate with no skills or career path. The notion that everyone "deserved" a college degree was and is so misguided. We have so many jobs that don't require a college degree. The problem now is that graduates consider those jobs to be beneath their unrealistic standards. My daughter and her husband had unbelievable loans from law school. They paid them off because they believed it was their obligation. Not too many of those people around these days.

RachaelOhalloran 2 years ago from United States

Re: Student debt and students in US colleges with no plan to repay loans.

Of my 5, I have 3 adult children who are still working toward their Masters' degrees in their chosen fields. They work while going to school. They have families and homes to support as well as bills to pay. Each one has tuition approx. 25% subsidized by their job benefits and 75% on their own of which my husband and I help when we can.

I can't tell you how many times they talk about kids in their colleges who after 3 years of attendance, still have no idea what they want to do when they graduate.

What the hell did they go to college for if they didn't have a plan? That should have been decided in high school or shortly after HS graduation.

Yet, they take every course under the sun - full rosters - and still no clear plan? It makes no sense

Others go to school because they like being in school and have no plan TO graduate ever - just be perpetual students. This is partly the parents' fault and partly government's fault. Students, depending on situation, are rewarded with stipends and allowances for being in school, given breaks on other programs and loans for staying in school, and are rewarded for continuing education.

Re: jobs after graduation ... Many graduates complain they can't find a job but in actuality they turn down jobs because they feel they are overqualified or the salary is beneath them. Others who are not that pompous or proud take any job just to be able to work and earn.

My son tells me of so many classmates who are foreign students here on visas going to school who change their majors every two years so they can renew their school visas to remain in the US.

As long as we have elected officials who will keep condoning these types of programs, we are doomed.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear Rachael,

Unless we are able to clear out Congress and get all new people who are capable of solving problems, we are doomed. Honestly, I think we are doomed. See you at the Inn.

Great read Pops! So very true, we need to clean house that is for sure in congress and other areas of our government....I am praying for new blood and real changes in 2014 and 2016.....never give up hope!!! As always you have such a great way to get a point across, you are gifted!!

WillStarr 2 years ago from Phoenix, Arizona

To understand this, all we have to do is ask ourselves where our kids learn liberalism. After that, it all becomes crystal clear.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning Whibeywriter,

No matter how disgusted I get, I never give up hope. Thank you so much for your kind words. You lift me up, you really do. See you at the Inn.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning Will,

The cost of brainwashing is dramatically high these days. See you at the Inn.

Patty Inglish, MS 2 years ago from North America

This is an octopus of a problem, with every arm of it a disaster.

I agree that not everyone should attend college. I also blame some of the corrupt loan and repayment demand practices, at least in my state - loan consolidations not happening after approval is given, some companies taking the payroll deductions for student loans out of checks and not sending those payments on to the loan institutions, and the biggest one -- At least one collection agency working for the govt was also scamming the loan payers into higher payments, which the agency kept for themselves. A class action suit against them was successful, but they went right back to their scam after payment of the judgment.

Any scamming banks and collection agencies should take the loss, not the American taxpayer. Meanwhile, I tell students they should not take out student loans. During my undergrad years, I worked 2.5 years full-time before attending college, saving every penny except my rooming house fees. I bought nothing. In college, I worked and did volunteer service as well. Perhaps everyone interested in college should work two years first.

And I love Chiquita Cicada.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear Patty,

It makes perfect sense to work for 2 years before attending college. Assuming mountains of debt without a clear path to a specific career is financial suicide and an enormous waste of time. People who I have met who applied to college a few years past high school, did so because they really wanted the degree. They were more mature and more invested in their education. Chiquita loves you too!

Pamela99 2 years ago from United States

I have two grandchildren in college who knew what their major was before they started and they have bright scholars , so that helps with the expense. They both have loans that will take years to pay. I think many things can be done to help students with goals and get rid of those that think college is a profession. Why does tuition rise 15% annually? Why do we pay tenured teachers who aren't good and some get paid who just sit in rooms but don't teach?

Obama did this because the election is getting closer - no doubt it was a political move. Why did Obamacare include taking over all student loans? Why don't they have those courses at the end of high school for those that want to be a mechanic or someother blue color job? This whole this is so frustrating.

Chiquita is a cuties and the muffins were tasty. Off to the inn!

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear Pamela,

I never believed that a college education was for everybody. These days, considering the high cost involved, there is no question that it is not for everybody. If you want to be an accountant, lawyer, doctor, teacher, financial expert or anything that absolutely requires college and beyond then go. If you haven't a clue where you are headed, stay away. The only thing that will happen for a student like that is they will graduate deeply in debt and still lack direction. There are a thousand other careers that are worthwhile and don't require a college degree. It's high time we cultivated a more realistic attitude towards higher learning. See you at the Inn. Chiquita is coming and she's bringing you muffins.

teaches12345 2 years ago

I truly believe every high school graduate should work a couple of years before going to college. It will help them make better choices and set realistic goals. I see too many college students having a fun time evading classes and still getting the degree.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear teaches,

I agree with you. Years ago, students entering college did so because they knew what they wanted. College was not pushed down the throat of every graduating senior. As time passed, four years of college became five and then six. In the end, for most graduates, the effort and expense was wasted. See you at the Inn.

tsadjatko 2 years ago from maybe (the guy or girl) next door

Bpop, I can't believe you allow Will Star and Old Pool Man to use foul language like l$%#&@l and l$%#&@l#$m !

You should delete those comments for using foul language. And shame on you for repeating the dirty word! :-)

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear tsadjatko,

Is "liberal" the dirty word? I'm a little slow tonight.

See you at the Inn.

tsadjatko 2 years ago from maybe (the guy or girl) next door

ewwwwe yeah that's it!

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear tsadjatko,

I am so relieved!!!!

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

I just remembered. I worked my way through college and don't recall student loans even being offered at that time. But these days "work" seems to be a dirty word too.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning Mike,

I went to Brooklyn College. It wasn't easy to get in, but if you did, college was basically free. Years after I graduated they started accepting anybody. They offered remedial courses for students who needed help. These students never graduated and eventually, the ridiculous practice was stopped. When I was in school, college took 4 years period! Parents would never stand for this 5 and 6 year stint. See you at the Inn.

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

It has been over 50 years since I was stationed in Germany, and perhaps it has changed by now. At that time students entering the eighth grade were required to make a choice about their future. They could choose a college prep path or a trade school. I'm reasonably sure that current grades also came into play for those whom desired the college prep path.

The available trade schools were great and graduates of these schools were highly trained in their skills and in great demand by employers.

Most of our high schools have completely dropped all shop type classes for reasons unknown to me. College is not for everyone, and teaching a trade would be good for the students and employers. We now graduate huge numbers of young people who can barely read or write and have no skills at all. Is it any wonder our economy is suffering and kids have to live with their parents until they reach middle age?

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear Mike,

When I weent to high school, students had to choose what type of program they wanted to follow. One was academic for those students interested in going on to college. The second was commercial, for those students who wanted to become legal secretaries, merchandisers and other fields that did not require higher learning. The last program let a student graduate with a general diploma. It was aimed at students who had very little interest in high school! In any case, the choice of these three courses of study made perfect sense, which is why it wouldn't fly today. Now, as you so adroitly point out, we are a nation of dummies.

weezyschannel 2 years ago from Central USA

I am going to be the odd duck in this conversation I hope no one gets mad at me. We, as a family, are excited about the loan repayment guidelines. I have a kid in college who is going to be getting a degree which she has worked hard for and is doing very well in school. However; we are not one of the rich families that can't afford to put him through college so he does have numerous loans

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear weezychannel,

I can understand why you might be happy, but I look at it this way. My daughter and son-in-law had massive loans from law school, master's programs and undergraduate work. They owed about $250,000 and every penny has been paid back. All the loans that will be forgiven are going to fall on the shoulders of others and that stinks, in my view.

weezyschannel 2 years ago from Central USA

I agree to a point. I guess depends on circumstances is the ultimate answer ??

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear weezychannel,

I believe that if you borrow money and sign a contract you honor it. Enjoy your weekend.

weezyschannel 2 years ago from Central USA

You are right I am not disagreeing one bit responsibility is responsibility however; because of the economy thanks to Obama and it's situation that is in, it may be impossible for some

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear weezyschannel,

Impossible is equal to default, so there should be ways to slow down the payments or suspend them until such time that re-payment is possible. Loan forgiveness is like amnesty, it doesn't solve the problem. Have a great week-end!

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

In some ways this is just like amnesty for those who entered the country illegally. Those who received their citizenship the long hard way may resent those who get it by breaking the law.

Those students who worked hard to pay off their student loans may resent those who have their loans forgiven. I agree with breakfastpop that suspending the interest on these loans until the loan recipient is better able to pay would be entirely acceptable. To just forgive the loan entirely and have the taxpayers pay it for them is not acceptable for me. Then student loans become just another form of social welfare.

Not that this applies to this particular case, but we all know of professional students that keep changing their major so they can remain in school and get yet another loan. They live off student loans rather than seeking employment year after year. Of course there are some who through no fault of their own are unable to repay the loan at this time. This would best be done on a case by case basis rather than just forgiving everyone.

weezyschannel 2 years ago from Central USA

Yes I do agree it should be a case-by-case basis and not for everyone. Please understand where I am coming from. Great topic great answers thank you guys

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning, Mike,

Of course, the way we and many others feel is just common sense, but considering the short supply of this particular commodity these days, I am not holding my breath for a sensible solution.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Good Morning weezychannel,

A case by case basis would provide fair and sensible solutions to so many of our problems. That will never happen, I am sad to say!

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

This whole issue has little or nothing to do with real concern for students who can't pay back their loans. It is all about buying votes. To refuse even one individual could cost them a vote so the obvious answer is to give it to everybody that wants it with no questions asked.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

DEar Mike,

It is all about values, common sense and decency. If you borrow money, you pay it back. If you don't think you can pay it back, what in the world are you doing!!!

Old Poolman 2 years ago from Rural Arizona

breakfastpop - your last comment would indicate you might be older than at least some of your readers. That kind of thinking disappeared a couple of generations ago. This is the age of "gimme" and then "gimme" some more.

Heck, I am old enough to remember when a handshake was considered a legal contract and was usually honored.

breakfastpop 2 years ago Author

Dear MIke,

I raised two daughters who are responsible members of society. Their children will be the same kind of citizens.